George Allen Miller One Geek's take on all things SciFi

I love this topic. Mostly because it fascinates me how two groups can argue about something when both core issues have nothing to do with the other. Are you a creationist? Guess what, you’re wrong. Are you an evolutionist? Guess what, you’re wrong. How can this be? Let’s find out shall we.

Before I do, in the interest of full disclosure. I am a scientific thinking agnostic. Nuff said.

Evolution

What is evolution anyway? Is it the principle belief of evolution that God does not exist? What? No? Well what does it have to do with God anyway? Nothing you say? Then why all the hubbub?

Evolution is the change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift. So, really, it’s how life works. We see this in day to day life. Animals can change to the environment. They do change, they must change. They change mostly in relation to food supplies and weather. We can see that in us. If we didn’t change based on diet, people wouldn’t look so different. We’ve even been able to manipulate this. Chicken farmers were able to make chickens have bigger breasts through cross breeding. The biological form is malleable. It can be molded and crafted to fit it’s surroundings.

We see this on a species level as well. Animals when moved to a new environment or diet, will change to fit that environment. That’s evolution. That’s it. It’s not a matter of God doesn’t exist. It’s a question of how life deals with the world around it. Some people do take this to explain how life can to be out of nothing. It may very well be how it did come out of nothing. But then, does that mean there is no God? Why should it exactly? All it would mean is this is how life formed. Well, we know how stars form, does that mean there is no God? No, it means we know how stars form.

All evolution will ever tell us is how life changes to fit it’s environment. That’s it. Nothing more. If there is anyone using it to prove God doesn’t exist, you’re wrong. So, what about creationists? They must be right then, right? Nope, they are even worse.

Creationism

Creationists believe that God is in control of everything. That he snapped his fingers, over the course of six days, and all life came to be. Ok, well, I suppose he could have done that. Technically speaking, it is defined as the doctrine that matter and all things were created, substantially as they now exist, by an omnipotent Creator, and not gradually evolved or developed.

There’s no question that if there is a God, he could do that. I mean, being omnipotent means you get to do whatever you want. But does that really make a lot of sense? God’s central point, to me, seems to be this whole pesky matter of faith. You have to have faith to believe in him or you just don’t cut it. Well, does it really make a whole lot of sense for a God to provide some means to prove his existence? I mean, if I were creating a universe, and I wanted the future people of it to choose me through faith, wouldn’t I build into that universe the mechanisms for self-explanation?

If any one piece of evidence existed that God is real, the whole faith thing goes out the window, doesn’t it? Sounds like it to me. Doesn’t the bible even say in Genesis, “let the earth bring forth the fish of the sea and foul of the air”? Almost sounds evolutionist to me.  Why couldn’t he just have snapped his fingers, created the big bang, and let everything else unfold on it’s own? Would make more sense if you wanted those that would come to have faith, wouldn’t it?

Intelligent Design

Briefly on this topic, you’re wrong. And arrogant. How can you think an omnipotent entity would make a mistake? The principle idea here is irreducible complexity. Irreducible complexity is the notion that there is some biological form out there, might be part of a larger organism, that can’t have evolved from anything else. It must have been created with the specific task of doing what it does. These guys say that a God did create everything, that evolution is going on, but that there was an intelligent designer. That point may very well be true. But to think that entity screwed up and left some irreducibly complex thing laying around for some moron to find? Are you kidding? If God does exist I don’t want to be you when it comes to meet him.

Conclusion

The reason I wrote this is simple. Creationist’s and Evolutionist spend too much time, even if it is only ten minutes, arguing about things that really just don’t matter to the chief pursuit. Evolution may very well be the method that God uses to keep life going. Why not? That would mean that evolution is a creationists science. It doesn’t try to say there is no God. So really, why keep this argument going when both halves can live quite comfortably next to each other? You can have an evolving world and a God. They actually fit quite nicely together.